Vardy is now the top scorer in the Premier League on 18 goals and he has been a revelation this season.
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Ranieri: “For Leicester, the pressure was at the beginning when we started, because our goal was to stay in the Premier League”.
Tomorrow: Arsenal v Leicester (2pm), Aston Villa v Liverpool (4:05pm), Manchester City v Tottenham (6:15pm) – AFP.
After a stunning 3-1 display against City over the weekend, Jamie Vardy has put pen to paper on a new deal with Leicester City.
“I hope the bookmakers, this time, are right but I am very pragmatic”, the Leicester manager said.
“We want to continue to dream with our fans and we want to continue to dream”, he said.
Long-term absentees Jeff Schlupp and Matty James are unlikely to feature.
However, while Ranieri refuses to talk about the title, he did admit that his side are now close to securing a Champions League place and should be targeting a top four finish at least.
The Foxes visit fellow title challengers Arsenal on Sunday 14 February (11pm AEDT) in a match that is billed to have severe consequences in the title race.
“When we got promoted we won the League Cup and finished ninth in the Premier League that year”. “I think, once the players are on the pitch, they are focused on the job”. The pressure is about the other teams.
But even so, I would have thought all the anger and frustration that the Frenchman has seen from the Arsenal fans recently, especially in the nine years when the club did not win a trophy, would have made him a bit more cautious about dealing with our complaints and more reluctant to dismiss them.
The Gunners have kept a joint league high of 12 clean sheets. The Arsenal midfielder has been an integral figure in their team this season.
“It would be very easy for me to accept and say let’s see how far we can go but I am the first one to understand that football clubs should be competing for silver wear and to get into the Champions League one day”, he said. Form is on Tottenham’s side, though, with four straight wins while Manchester are coming off a confidence-bruising home loss to Leicester. If Spurs can come out on top, not only will they seriously dent City’s title hopes, they’ll have a chance to more firmly insert themselves into the title picture.
Claudio Ranieri is determined to prevent Leicester’s successful season from being a one-off despite saying the Foxes are “having a unusual year”. He is the first player to reach double figures in both categories this season.
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SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by Professor Ian McHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.
